Sunday, March 30, 2014

...the angels have lamented before the Lord that when they look into the world they see nothing but darkness, and among men no knowledge of God, of heaven, and of the creation of nature, on which their angelic wisdom may rest. (Divine Love and Wisdom, n. 284)

So Swedenborg wrote in his work Divine Love and Wisdom, indicating a general lack of knowledge of spiritual matters in a materialistic world. The purpose of the work Divine Love and Wisdom is to described the true nature of God Himself. God is not only love and truth itself, but as He is love and truth, He is a personal supreme being. Swedenborg goes on to describe how the spiritual world is outside of time and space, and yet flows into natural forms in all their aspects. The objective of creation is to return back to the Creator from which it came. To do this, we have to subdue the desires of our selfish ego. Once the ego is subdued, and we start looking outside of our self towards others, God's spirit can flow into us. As spiritual beings, we become moral beings. As these spiritual and moral laws are described in the 10 commandments, I thought I would discuss some of the symbolism contained within them. Most probably think these are just simple moral rules - which they are - but contained within them is a deeper spiritual symbolism.

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE 10 COMMANDMENTS

If we examine the 10 commandments, the first are summed up as love towards God, and the latter are summed up as love towards the neighbor. And it was on these two commandments that Jesus said hang all the law and the prophets. The 10 commandments are as follows:

You shall have no other gods before Jehovah.

You shall not make any idols.

You shall not take God's name in vain.

Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.

Honor your father and mother.

You shall not murder.

You shall not commit adultery.

You shall not steal.

You shall not lie.

You shall not covet.

Catholic and Lutheran churches do not enumerate the 10 commandments properly: they consolidate commandments #1 and #2 into one, and artificially split the command not to covet into two separate commandments, and unfortunately Swedenborg followed this tradition. Once enumerated properly, one can discover that there is a correspondence between the first and second tablet, where we discover that in the highest spiritual sense, God is our neighbor, we love Him by loving others (see Matt. 25):

In a spiritual sense God Himself is our Father, is shown in the Lord's prayer, how we are to pray to Him calling him our Father. It is through obedience to Him that we become children of God, rather than mere natural children to our parents. That the spiritual meaning of honoring the father and mother means to honor God and the church, is shown by the promise in the commandment:

Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God is giving you. (Ex. 20:12)

In the literal sense, the commandment states if one honors their parents they will live long in the land of Canaan. But in the spiritual sense, it means if we honor God and his church, we will have eternal life in the kingdom of heaven, which is symbolized by the land of Canaan. That this commandment corresponds to worshiping one God, is shown by the first commandment:

I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me. (Ex. 20:2-3)

Egypt here, in the spiritual sense, represents slavery to sin. The Israelites were brought out of Egypt into the land of Canaan - this shows that commandment #5 corresponds to the first commandment.

1. ONE GOD 6. DO NOT MURDER--->

The correspondence between the first commandment and commandment #6, do not murder, is easy to see, when we know that God is the origin of all life, and is life itself. That God is life, and life forms are mere recipients of that life, is shown in the following passages:

In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

And note that Jesus said he is not a recipient of life, as other life forms, but is the originator of all life:

For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself (John 5:26)

2. NO IDOLS 7. DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY---->

In scripture idolatrous worship is referred to as acting like a harlot or behaving as an adulterer towards God:

"Go, take yourself a wife of harlotry And children of harlotry, For the land has committed great harlotry By departing from the LORD." (Hos. 1:2)

In the New Testament, Jesus is referred to as the groom and the church is the bride. Thus to depart from worshiping Jesus, to turn away towards a false god, is adultery.

2. NO IDOLS 8. DO NOT STEAL---->

In the spiritual sense, to steal means to steal what belongs to God and treat it as belonging to one's self. Thus, those who teach a false religion and lead others astray are stealing from God. Those who place any Divinity in themselves are also stealing from God. And those who are self-righteous, and regard any good that they do as originating from their self, also steal from God. We should act from our self, but acknowledge that all love and truth originate from God. We are mere recipients and vessels of what we receive from the Divine.

3. DO NOT TAKE GOD'S NAME IN VAIN 9. DO NOT LIE--->

To not take God's name in vain in general means not to profane what is holy. It also means to first belong to the church, acknowledging the truth, and then to turn back and deny it. This is taking God's name in vain, and the act of departure or denial after first acknowledging the spiritual matters of faith is one of the worst things one can do. Thus the correspondence between the third commandment, and the ninth is obvious, for the ninth commandment tells us not to lie or bear false witness. In the spiritual sense, the ninth commandment means we should be true witnesses to our faith by acknowledging it in our life. To say one thing, and do another, is bearing false witness.

4. REMEMBER THE SABBATH 10. DO NOT COVET---->

The parallel between the fourth commandment, remembering the Sabbath, and the tenth, do not covet, is not obvious and requires a bit of explanation.

The command of not to covet is usually taken as meaning as to not be greedy, or desire what other's have. In a more spiritual sense, it covers all the commandments, and teaches that not only should we not disobey the commandments, but should not desire to disobey them. Thus one who hates another is guilty of killing that person. One who desires another person's wife has committed adultery with her in his heart. If you withhold something that would be of use to others, or help them in some way, you have stolen from them. So in a general spiritual sense, do not covet means we should put our internal desires under submission. Every act will first begin with the thought to do it.

In the spiritual sense, the day of the Sabbath represents a state of spiritual rest, which is preceded by six days of work which represents a state of combat against temptation to do sin. This is discussed in extensive detail by Emanuel Swedenborg in his work, Heavenly Arcana, and I have discussed some other symbolism in the seven days of creation in previous blog posts under the label "Universal Order of Design" which one can see in the left column of this blog. The Sabbath represents a spiritual state where one is led by the Lord in everything, rather than by the self. This interpretation is not so apparent in the literal sense of the Bible, but notice how the spiritual interpretation of the Sabbath as revealed to Swedenborg corresponds perfectly with the tenth commandment, which teaches us that we should subdue our selfish desires.

THE TRINITY AS FOUND IN THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

Most Christian churches have been corrupted by a false definition dividing God into three persons, a definition that is explicitly forbidden and not supported by scripture. It is a false conclusion that Christian theologians attempt to support by the vision of John the Baptist at the time of the baptism of Jesus, and they will also always point to the fact that Jesus prayed to the Father as to another person. But the hidden reason for that is Jehovah had descended into a human vessel that had inherited sinful tendencies from the human mother Mary, and in such a state had entered a state of being where He could be tempted as any other human. Such a state of temptation could not be possible unless he had entered a state of being where he appeared as separate from the Divine itself. He had to grow towards union with the Divine as any other human would, except with the Lord, he achieved a perfect union with the Divine. In the New Church, the Trinity is defined as an emanation of the Divine: the Divine itself, the Divine in the human, and the proceeding Divine in the form of the Holy Spirit. Or to say it in a different way, the Trinity is the soul, body and spirit of Jesus Christ.

Those who search for a Trinity of three persons in scripture will not find that definition anywhere. But, for those who have thought on the ten commandments, one can find a definition of the Trinity in the first three commandments. Here are the first three commandments again:

I am Jehovah your God...you shall have no other gods before me.

You shall not worship idols.

You shall not take the name of God in vain.

Note from above, that the first commandment corresponds to the fifth commandment, honor your father and mother. The first commandment, beginning with "I am Jehovah" is a reference to the Divine itself, the invisible Divine that no one has seen, which is known in the New Testament as the Father. The Father is not a separate person from the Son, but rather is the Divine itself which resides as the soul of the body of Jesus. Thus in the gospel of John Jesus told Philip that the Father resides inside of him, and he should not view the Father as a separate being or person. As the first commandment is in reference to the Father, the second commandment is in reference to the Son. How so? Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God:

...Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4)
He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. (Col. 1:15)
...who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person (Heb. 1:3)

He is the image of the invisible God, as Jehovah resided in Jesus as the soul resides in the body. Thus Jesus calls his body a temple. What about the third commandment, how is that related to the Holy Spirit? To not take God's name in vain means not to blaspheme or profane that which is holy. Compare it with this statement concerning the Holy Spirit:

"Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. (Matt. 12:31-32)

So what does this passage mean, why is blasphemy against the Holy Spirit unforgivable? It is when one turns against the spiritual truth after having first acknowledged it. Not only does Swedenborg explains this, but also relates it to the third commandment:

By these words is described the profanation of truth from the Lord ...These are the things which are signified by taking the name of God in vain. That such a state with man cannot be cured, thus cannot be remitted, is signified also by the words which immediately follow, namely, Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain, by which is meant that it cannot be remitted. ...By taking the name of God in vain is also signified blaspheming, which is done when those things which are of the Word or of the doctrine of faith, thus which are holy, are regarded with derision and are brought down to what is unclean and earthly, and thus defiled (Heavenly Arcana, n. 8882).

Thus the third commandment corresponds to the Holy Spirit. The 10 commandments generally describe what not to do first, rather than what to do, for the first step in spiritual development is to remove what is evil and what is false. Inasmuch what is evil and false is removed, one prepares oneself to receive the Divine from within.

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Due to recent events concerning Russia, there is now increased interest in prophecies concerning a future war with Russia. These come from reliable sources who have already demonstrated their ability to predict future events. For a summary, see A Prophecy of World War III by Stormberger and Prophecies of a Future War with Russia by Anton Johansson. Anton Johansson had encounters with Jesus Christ, and among other prophecies predicted the sinking of the Titanic, the outbreak of World War I, and the North Sea Flood of 1953. Anton Johansson was a devout Christian, and would often pray for fisherman who were about to be lost at sea and would pray for their soul. Like Emanuel Swedenborg he comes from Sweden. In the future, he saw there would be a great departure from Christianity, with no one spending time in prayer. And this we see now. Anton Johansson and others were under the impression that all his prophecies would have be fulfilled in 1953, so when no war broke out in 1953, many lost interest. It is perhaps through prayer and repentance that these events have been mitigated or delayed. But in fact, he did successfully predict this storm of 1953, and since most have no idea about this storm, here is an old newsreel of the event:

More severe disasters - massive powerful hurricanes - he foresaw for America. The hurricane of 2013 is just but a small foretaste. One other interesting vision that I just discovered is that he foresaw the eruption of Mount Pelee on Martinique in 1902, which the author J.W. Dunne also foresaw in his dream (J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings, had a personal copy of Dunne's book - see The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings (part 2)). In 1907 Johansson was shown a great vision, and it began in this manner:

"In the middle of night I was awakened by a voice which said: Thou will be given to know the secrets of heaven. My room was filled with so bright a light that it dazzled me. I wanted to look up towards from where I had heard the voice, but felt myself unworthy and bowed down in prayer. My soul was filled with overwhelming heavenly bliss, and I understood that my Saviour himself had awakened me."

Again, a dazzling bright white light manifests before his eyes. Perhaps skeptics would think this to be a hallucination of the mind, as they are caught up in a materialistic world view, but now in the modern age where everyone has a video camera this kind of spiritual manifestation has been caught on video tape. See Angel Appears before thousands on top of a Coptic Church and Marian Apparitions of Egypt, the Orthodox Church and Emanuel Swedenborg and Spiritual Miracles of Egypt, the Arab Spring, and Repentance. How is this happening? There are other higher dimensions where space and time do not exist. Although this is the domain of current research in physics and mathematics, long before Einstein in the 18th century Emanuel Swedenborg was basically told that the realm of the spirit exists where space and time are non-existent. It is the realm we all enter after our physical bodies die, and if we spiritually progress, we are all destined to become angelic beings.

Like Anton Johansson, Emanuel Swedenborg was from Sweden and also had an encounter with Jesus Christ. But you have here two men from completely opposite ends of the spectrum: Anton Johansson was a simple fisherman, uneducated, and could hardly read and write, which has caused confusion on the sequence of the visions he was shown. Emanuel Swedenborg was a highly respected scientist, a noble, and served the King of Sweden directly. Similar to Anton Johansson he also saw a dazzling white light before his eyes, but most of his visions were internal with no visible manifestation. Also another similarity is he too was given the "secrets of heaven." These secrets of heaven were of a higher spiritual sort, eternal in nature, and there were so many he created multiple volumes of these revelations in a book entitled Heavenly Arcana (or Arcana Coelestia) meaning "secrets of heaven." None of them are prophecies, but for particular insights Swedenborg would mention that what he was about to reveal was an "arcana" or "arcanum" or a secret of heaven. I shall just mention a couple:

Though in this world a very deep arcanum, nothing is better known in the next life, known even to every spirit, than the truth that all things in the human body have a correspondence with things in heaven. So true is this that not even the smallest part in the human body fails to have something spiritual and celestial, or what amounts to the same, the heavenly communities, corresponding to it. (Heavenly Arcana, n. 2996).

More important, is this secret describing the true nature of the Trinity, for the few who will accept it:

The truth that the Trinity - that is to say, the Divine itself, the Divine Human, and the Divine Proceeding - exists within the Lord is an arcanumreceived from heaven, and is intended for those who will be in the Holy Jerusalem (Heavenly Arcana, n. 10831).

What I just said above is most important. If you are interested in prophecy, yes it exists, there is a higher Supreme Being who knows future events, which can change according to free will. But the future everyone should be concerned with is their eternal destiny after they die. We should try to die to our sinful natural self before our death, so we can have eternal spiritual life, not just physical life. Thus, "the man who dies before he dies, does not die when he dies."

EVENTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND RUSSIA

We are now seeing the new Russia flex its muscle. This is upsetting the direction certain powers in the U.S. want to take. The first example is the civil war in Syria - events were not "supposed" to happen this way. In the planning, long ago, were plans to topple Syria, along with Iraq and Libya:

The military objective is control of the oil resources, on which the world economy runs. But because of Russian support for the government Syria, the plans have stalled, now leading to a very extreme refugee crisis spilling over the borders. And the worst part? The reason why the civil war is becoming prolonged is because of support of the rebels by Saudi Arabia and Turkey, two U.S. allies. Right now, Turkey allows free access of rebels, some affiliated with Al Qaeda, to cross into the Syrian border. Turkey is turning a "blind eye" by not enforcing its own border, but it goes deeper than that: arms shipments to the rebels through Turkey was planned a while ago under the direction of the CIA. Some of this got foiled with the attack on Benghazi in Libya. For this see A Love Triangle between the CIA, Turkey and Syria. To speed up the end of this war, a "false flag" operation was done when a certain party launched a chemical attack in Syria, against many women and children. Militant rebels have said that the intelligence agency of Saudi Arabia, a U.S. ally, was behind the operation. Unfortunately they did not know what they were handling, and it accidentally exploded. See Saudi Prince Bandar behind chemical attack in Syria. And here is the odd part: the U.S. reporter who helped translate the original story for MintPress News was threatened by a third party perhaps on behalf of Saudi Arabia, and was suspended by the Associated Press. From US reporter threatened by Saudi Arabia over Syria chemical weapons attack:

The Mint Press News article said interviews with doctors, residents, anti-government forces and their families in Ghouta suggest the terrorists in question received chemical weapons via Saudi Arabia's intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al Saud. Gavlak, who has been suspended by the Associated Press as a result of the article, said Mint Press News wrongly put her byline on a story in the article. Her lawyer says she simply helped Ababneh translate the article into English. The lawyer says Ababneh is the sole reporter of the story, Politico reported. In a statement released over the weekend, Mint Press said they understand Gavlak is under “mounting pressure” that her career would end because of the article but that she researched and wrote the article, along with Ababneh.

If there is any good news out of this, this event led to Syria ultimately declaring its chemical weapons and agreeing to disarm. So much for the so-called war on terrorism.... notice the silence on any investigation as to who was responsible for the chemical attack.

The other event, is that Russia has annexed Crimea:

And the western media talks about how "awful" this is, and slapped sanctions on Russia for upsetting "international law." Point in fact here, no law was broken. Crimea was a former part of Russia, Crimea was autonomous, the majority of the population is Russia, the majority voted to join Russia, and the parliament of Crimea endorsed it as well. In addition to ensuring the integrity of the borders of each nation, international law also supports the right of all people towards self determination. What happened here is Russia outmaneuvered the U.S. - while the U.S. was supporting a democratic revolution in Ukraine, Russia took the situation and put it in its own advantage. Russia points out that in fact international law was broken when the west invaded Iraq and supported the independence of Kosovo. What happened is something similar if the state of Florida broke off from the United States, and the United States reclaimed it with the support of Florida voters.

So why is Crimea strategic? It allows Russia to have better control of the Black Sea, and, its now one step closer to not only Turkey, but also shortens its supply line path to Syria with the naval base at Sevastopol:

So how does this all tie in with the future prophecies concerning Russia? Anton Johansson saw that in the future, Russia would expand into Scandinavia and Europe, and in this war, Turkey will be affected:

The Balkan states will be in a deplorable situation at that time, especially Romania and Serbia. Even Greece will then be helpless. As for Turkey, I want to warn its citizens not to persecute Christians, but to become devoted to Jesus lest they get effaced from among the number of independent countries. The Jews will at that time have returned in great crowds to Jerusalem.

The above was written in the early 20th century, long before Israel became a nation. Now the Jews have returned. Under Prime Minister Erdogan, Turkey is shifting towards a more fundamentalist Islamic state, away from the reforms of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. As such, their intelligence agency is supporting groups with associations to Al-Qaeda. And Turkey is supporting these rebel groups against Syria, an ally of Russia. And what is happening as a result? Christians from Syria have been suffering, and Al-Qaeda groups will not tolerate them: see Syria's Christians face new threat -- "convert, submit to Islam or face sword". Ironically, as TWO UPDATES ON SYRIA’S CHRISTIANS points out, this is in contradiction with Islamic law:

“ISIL contradicts itself,” Shehata said. “On the one hand they say they are implementing the provisions of Islamic sharia, including the ‘jizya’, however the Islamic state must be a full-fledged state and recognised by its citizens and subjects, which is not the case in the areas where ISIL is imposing its control by force and bloodshed.”

And, here is another instance in how Turkey's support for these rebels is having an adverse affect on ancient Christian communities:

"...over the weekend, fighters with a different al-Qaeda offshoot in the opposition, a rival of ISIL known as the Nusra Front, captured the Armenian Christian town of Kessab. The fighters crossed the border from Turkey, where their bases are located, and attacked the town on Friday. By Sunday, it had fallen. Thousands of Kessab’s Christians–some of whom had sought refuge from Raqqa–have fled to the nearby city of Latakia, where they receiving assistance from the local community, the Red Cross, and Red Crescent. Eyewitnesses report that the Nusra Front has looted Christian homes and stores and desecrated churches in Kessab."

So what is the future for Turkey? Not good, if it continues on these policies supported by its current government. Turkey itself has a long history of religious toleration, and this behavior is unacceptable to most Turkish citizens. Are they aware? Probably not. This attack on a Christian town occurred right after Russia annexed Crimea.

PROPHECIES CONCERNING THE CATHOLIC PAPACY

Related to the prophecies of Stormberger and Anton Johansson, there are Marian prophecies within the Catholic church from visionaries concerning a Russian invasion of Italy, and a time when Rome will be without a Pope. Many of those are not known to the public, but the one prophecy that is more well known to the public. Is the Third Secret of Fatima, a vision of the future revealed to three children in Spain at the beginning of the 20th century. Although kept secret for many years, the Vatican finally released the contents of the Third Secret in the year 2000.

After the two parts which I have already explained, at the left of Our Lady and a little above, we saw an Angel with a flaming sword in his left hand; flashing, it gave out flames that looked as though they would set the world on fire; but they died out in contact with the splendour that Our Lady radiated towards him from her right hand: pointing to the earth with his right hand, the Angel cried out in a loud voice: 'Penance, Penance, Penance!'. And we saw in an immense light that is God: 'something similar to how people appear in a mirror when they pass in front of it' a Bishop dressed in White 'we had the impression that it was the Holy Father'. Other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious going up a steep mountain, at the top of which there was a big Cross of rough-hewn trunks as of a cork-tree with the bark; before reaching there the Holy Father passed through a big city half in ruins and half trembling with halting step, afflicted with pain and sorrow, he prayed for the souls of the corpses he met on his way; having reached the top of the mountain, on his knees at the foot of the big Cross he was killed by a group of soldiers who fired bullets and arrows at him, and in the same way there died one after another the other Bishops, Priests, men and women Religious, and various lay people of different ranks and positions. Beneath the two arms of the Cross there were two Angels each with a crystal aspersorium in his hand, in which they gathered up the blood of the Martyrs and with it sprinkled the souls that were making their way to God.

And along with this release of the information, the Vatican wanted to state that "no future" is revealed here, that is was probably fulfilled with the attempted assassination of Pope John Paul II in 1981. This, obviously, is false. We do not have just the Pope being killed, many are killed. And it also describes a city - probably Rome - half in ruins. And what about the soldiers? I have seen other Marian prophecies where the soldiers are Russian, but these visions are harder to validate. So I stick with the visions of Fatima, as they had earlier foretold the outbreak of World War II.

So this brings us to the prophecies of Nostradamus. He has a long track record of fulfilled prophecies, but many of them are written in an obscure style. However many of them are quite clear. In an epistle he wrote to King Henry II of France, he foretold the coming of World War II and the occupation of eastern Europe by the Soviet Union, after which comes this statement:

Then the great empire of the Antichrist will commence there, Attila
and Xerxes descending in great and innumerable numbers, so that the coming of
the Holy Spirit ...will make a
transmigration, chasing the abomination of the Antichrist, making war against
the royal one who will be the great Vicar of Jesus Christ, and against his
church, and his reign for a time and an occasion of time,And it will be preceded by an eclipse of the
sun more obscure, and more dark, than had been since the creation of the world
until the death and passion of Jesus Christ, and from until here to the month
of October some great translation will be made, such that one will think that
the weight of the earth has lost its natural movement to be engulfed in
perpetual darkness...

In the above passage, Xerxes is an ancient king of Persia (modern Iran), and Attila is a reference to Atila the Hun, who is regarded as an ancestor of the Turks. The "Vicar of Christ" is the Papacy of the Catholic Church, which claims that the Pope is a "vicar" of Christ. That this is a reference to Russia, we know because the empire of Atila the Hun spanned the exact same geographic area as the Soviet Union and Russia:

So not only does the empire of Atila the Hun cover the same geographic region of Russia and Europe, but geopolitically, Russia and Iran are working together as allies, especially in regards to Syria. Thus Nostradamus mentions both Atila the Hun and Xerxes of Persia, as he would often use historical references as examples for the future. It is interesting to see how visions of the future from different witnesses come converging together. So is this a prophecy that failed to be fulfilled during the time of the Soviet Union, or does it remain to be fulfilled under a new Russia? The future is open, but the warnings have been given, and it is us to each person's free will which will determine the final outcome.

Saturday, March 22, 2014

In the book of Revelation (or Apocalypse) the apostle John was given a grand vision of the final end state of Christianity. It is a highly symbolic book, and countless commentaries have been written about it. Interpretations tend to fall into two categories: the historical view, which seeks to apply the vision to various historical events, and the futurist view, which always pushes the prophecy to some future "end of the world" scenario. There is a third view: this book does not describe an "end of the world" but an "end of an age." By "end of an age" is meant the end of the Catholic and Protestant false doctrines concerning Christianity. The book describes the last corrupt state of Christianity, which is to be followed by a New Church for a New Age, symbolized by the New Jerusalem that descends out of heaven. Rather than waiting for some visible sign in the sky, this view states we should not be looking up in the sky, but rather seek a revelation from the heavenly world shown in visions.

Many close off their minds, and put their mind in a box, and believe there will be no future revelation. This goes against the history of progressive revelation as revealed in the Bible itself, how each dispensation or age begins with a new revelation. Even the book of Revelation states that some future revelation will be made, and this is described by an angel descending out of heaven with a little book, commonly known as the "book of seven thunders." I will quote the passage in full:

I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. And a rainbow was on his head, his face was like the sun, and his feet like pillars of fire. He had a little book open in his hand. And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, "Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them."The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be delay no longer, but in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets. (Rev. 10:1-7)

This particular passage mystifies every single reader who has come across it. I remember being puzzled by it: why show something and then command the apostle John not to write it?

A CASE FOR PROGRESSIVE REVELATION

The passage above concerning the angel with the book of seven thunders proves that at some future date, there would be a revelation concerning the contents of the "little book." We can see this from the prophecies contained in the book of Daniel, where an angel told Daniel that the prophecies would be closed up and not understood for many, many years:

Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. (Dan. 12:9)

Then about six centuries later, the prophecies of the book of Daniel are expanded and explained in detail in the book of Revelation. Thus we have this statement:

Do not seal the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand. (Rev. 22:10)

Obviously the words spoken by the book of seven thunders are not included - they are to remain sealed and unknown until some future revelation. The passage concerning the book of seven thunders uses the exact same terminology as these two passages: Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.

VARIOUS THEORIES ON THE BOOK OF SEVEN THUNDERS

When one does a search on the internet, it becomes quite clear no one has a clue as to what was contained in the book of seven thunders. And if someone pretends to have a clue, it comes from their own guesswork. And when someone starts to "guess" the interpretation is probably false. If this information was received through vision, then only a visionary revelation can truly reveal the contents or subject matter. Nevertheless, lets take a sample of some guesswork, in no particular order.

In What are the mysterious Seven Thunders of Revelation 10?, the website mentions a theory that the message of the book of seven thunders were revealed in the writings and/or sermons of a Pentecostal minister, William M. Branham (1909-65). However the website discounts the theory. This minister seems to have subscribed to a historical view of the book of Revelation. The website goes on and on with no conclusion, and continues this further in THE SEVEN THUNDERS OF REVELATION 10. Finally, the author says this:

"Again, let me emphasize: Revelation 10 is the MYSTERIOUS COMING of Christ in Angelic form. It is not Christ's return to Israel on Mount Olivet or His coming in the Rapture."

And follows up with this:

So, in His Second Advent, CHRIST would first DESCEND from Heaven to the Earth in Word (Spiritual) form as He was revealed in Angelic (Word) form in John's vision.

This I find interesting. As the author tends to ramble a lot I at first could not figure out how he reached that conclusion, but I think he arrived at that conclusion from scripture:

The Living God of the Bible is a Maker of covenants. He is a 'Covenanter' and the rainbow was the first token of an everlasting covenant He made with the man Noah (Gen.9:8-17). Even round about His throne, there is a rainbow to remind us of Who He is (Rev.4:3). The rainbow on the head of this Mighty Angel shows us that He is none other than the Covenant-Maker Himself in angelic form. He is the Angel of THE COVENANT (Mal.3:1).

As the author has referenced a Pentecostal minister, we will come back to this a little later. There are quite a few false conceptions in the author's ideas about the book of Revelation, but despite that, I found this particular conclusion a bit insightful. But lets continue on with some other guesswork.

The reason for the sealing is not given, but it could be that the judgment was simply too terrifying to be recorded. The content of the message is never revealed in Scripture, so we can’t speculate on it.

For a website that says they have answers, I thought at least they were being honest. It is good to maintain a healthy sense of agnosticism: admitting that one does not know is better than pretending that you do know. A similar answer is given in What is the message of the seven thunders of Revelation 10:4? from the "Restored Church of God", but they offer one other insight:

Many wonder about the message of the seven thunders. But, as this verse shows, God did not allow John to record it. Nor is this message found elsewhere in the Bible. God, for His own great purpose, chose not to reveal it in Scripture. What do we know? When the seventh trumpet announces the Return of Jesus Christ, a very significant event will occur. This is what their message deals with. (Notice Revelation 10:7 and 11:15.)

Rev. 11:15 speaks of what happens when the seventh angel sounds, at which time the seven thunders will be revealed.

Beyond the above, typical websites will talk round and round in circles without admitting they do not know, but occasionally one will come across some very "imaginative" interpretations and I will spare everyone from repeating them here. Are there any clues from the gospels? There are 2 references to the word thunder - one is where the apostles are first enumerated and James and John are called "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). The other comes from the gospel of John, which may have been written after Revelation, where a voice from heaven announces how Jesus will be glorified. Some thought it was the voice of an angel, others thought it as thunder (see John 12:27-32). In general, throughout scripture thunder is used to describe the voice of God out of heaven.

THE VISIONS OF EMANUEL SWEDENBORG

Now we come to Emanuel Swedenborg, whose internal vision was opened up after having an encounter with Jesus himself, who gave him the mission to explain the spiritual sense of the Bible. For over 25 years, he had waking visions of the spiritual world, and was guided in the spiritual interpretation of the Bible by God himself, who appeared as a central Sun in the midst of heaven - which more and more witnesses in the modern age have encountered in Near Death Experiences. Those who have had an NDE only get a brief glimpse. Imagine what you can discover if you were in that state for 25 years? A LOT. Swedenborg wrote volume after volume of his spiritual experiences, interpreting the Bible word by word in his massive work, Heavenly Arcana (aka Arcana Coelestia), meaning "Heavenly Secrets." He wrote six volumes on Revelation, explaining it word by word referencing other scriptures, in a massive six volume work entitled Apocalypse Explained which he left as a draft and never published. He was then given a command to shut himself in a room and finish it, and the result was a much more condensed version, Apocalypse Revealed. Reading his works is like uncovering the internal spiritual psychology of the human soul, and how to grow spiritually. The writings are very hard to absorb in one reading, in fact, most will not absorb everything in their lifetime. Because its not about knowing, its about knowing and also doing. If you do not go through the spiritual process in your life, you will never understand.

So, if there is anyone who could shed light on the book of seven thunders, Emanuel Swedenborg is it. No more guesswork here. So when I first uncovered Swedenborg, I went straight to the University library and pulled out his works on the Apocalypse. What, exactly, was this book of seven thunders and what did it mean? I was going to jump to that point, but he had so many other interesting things to say on other portions of the Apocalypse it took me a while.

The first surprise is that all numbers in scripture have a symbolic meaning, and the number seven does not always mean seven. Seven means "all" or a "complete cycle" - specifically, there are seven states of spiritual development for the human soul. It is why the seventh day or Sabbath was considered sacred by the Jews - the six preceding states are a state of combat against temptation from self effort, but the seventh state is a state of rest because it is the spiritual state where one is not guided by self-will, but the indwelling of God's spirit. As very few self-examine themselves and repent, and it is very hard to acknowledge one's own evils, very few reach the seventh state and hardly anyone knows about it because they have not experienced it. So that's why you have the number seven constantly popping up everywhere you look in the book of Revelation. So if anyone caught in the literal sense looking for seven specific points here will be disappointed. As for the symbolic meaning of the word "thunder", it generically means Divine revelation, or an internal realization of it. Here is Swedenborg's explanation of it when John sees thunders emanating from the throne of God in heaven:

Lightnings, from the flame affecting the eyes, signify enlightenment: and thunders, from the noise affecting the ears, signify perception; and when these signify enlightenment and perception, then voices signify instruction. These were seen to proceed out of the throne, because from the Son of Man, or from the Lord as to the Word, and all enlightenment, perception, and instruction come from the Lord through the Word. Similar things are signified by lightnings, thunders, and voices elsewhere in the Word (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 236).

Such visions explain why in the ancient world they worshiped gods of thunder: from the Vedas you have Indra, the god of thunder, and among the Greeks and Romans you had Zeus, Jupiter or Jove, the god of thunder as well. For before Judaism there was a more ancient revelation based on visions, which in time became corrupted by idolatry. The voice of God that thundered out of heaven happened as Jesus saw some Greeks that had attended the Jewish festival (John 12:20), indicating there was some truth to these ancient myths. There is a bit deeper explanation of the origin of symbolic meanings in the corresponding passage of Swedenborg's unpublished work, Apocalypse Explained:

But let something first be said in respect to the origin of these significations. All things that appear before the eyes of men in the visible heaven, as the sun, the moon, the stars, the air, the ether, light, heat, clouds, mists, showers, and many more, are correspondences; they are correspondences for the reason that all things in the natural world correspond to those in the spiritual world. (Apocalypse Explained, n. 273)

Ever hear of "archetypes" or "collective unconscious" from Carl Jung? Most people have. What most people don't know is Carl Jung borrowed it without acknowledgement from Swedenborg and just changed the terminology to sound more psychological. But the above sample quotes from Swedenborg is an example of how hard it is to absorb the information. Most people know what it is to have a "conscience" - that internal feeling that something is right or wrong, but how do you explain "perception"? Perception is a word Swedenborg uses for an internal state of recognizing if something is true or false, without resorting to external knowledge or human reasoning. The more one enters into a state of love or usefulness towards others, the more one is given a state of perception for recognizing spiritual truths. This is something the modern scientific mind finds hard to grasp, as our minds are stuck in the outer visible senses, and depending on the external knowledge or facts we receive from them. Its a case of if you do not do, you will never know. In the revelations given to Swedenborg, love always comes first. Its the exact opposite of many religions which place emphasis on faith or belief alone, or just meditation and enlightenment, which many just shove into the memory and leave it there. That memory knowledge is not living until it is put to use in one's life.

THE MEANING OF THE BOOK OF SEVEN THUNDERS

So first, who is the angel that descends out of heaven? Just an angel, or Jesus himself? The interpretations out there that said this was the Lord Himself are correct, and Swedenborg gives a similar reason, but goes a lot further from what he saw in his spiritual visions:

And I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven, signifies the Lord in Divine majesty and power. That this angel is the Lord is manifest from the description of him; that he was encompassed with a cloud, a rainbow over his head, his face as the sun, his feet as pillars of fire, and that he set his feet upon the sea and upon the earth; also that he cried as a lion roareth, and spake like thunder. He was seen as an angel, because He appears in and below the heavens as an angel, when He manifests Himself: for He fills some angel with His Divine accommodated to the reception of those to whom He gives to see Him. His presence itself, such as it is in itself or in its essence, not any angel, and still less any man, can sustain; therefore He appears above the heavens as the sun, which is distant from the angels as the sun of the world from men. There He is in His Divine from eternity, and at the same time in His Divine Human, which are one, as soul and body. He is here called a mighty angel from the Divine power: and He is said to be another angel from the fact that His Divine is described here different from before. (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 465)

Remember the interpretation from the Pentecostal minister William Branham? The secret here is that many Pentecostal ministers read the writings of Swedenborg for their sermons without telling their congregations where they got the information. They sort of hide the books of Swedenborg in their closet.

Next, what about the "little book" held in the hand of the angel? Some have speculated that it is related to the book of seven seals (Rev. 5:1), and they are correct. At this point Swedenborg reveals the secret of the contents of the little book:

And he had in his hand a little book open, signifies the Word as to this point of doctrine therein, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that His Human is Divine. That by the book which the Lamb took from Him who sat upon the throne, and whose seven seals He loosed (Apoc. v. 1, 7; vi. 1), is meant the Word, may be seen above (n. 256, 259, 295, etc.); for which reason by the little book in the hand of the angel who also is the Lord (n. 465), nothing else is meant but the Word as to some essential therein. That this is the point of doctrine in the Word, that the Lord is the God of heaven and earth, and that his Human is Divine, is manifest from the particulars in this chapter and the following, in the spiritual sense; and also from the natural sense (chap. xi. 15-17). The little book is said to be open, because that point stands out openly in the Word, and is manifest to every one who reads, if he attends. This is now treated of, because this is the essential itself of the New Church. (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 465)

So there you have it. The secret was hidden in plain sight all along, and it concerns the identity of Jesus himself. Many will just say he is just a prophet or teacher, but this chapter in the book of Revelation concerns the rejection of the identity of Jesus Christ within the Christian Church itself. How is Jesus rejected? For one, most churches have divided God into three persons from the Nicene Creed. This is not true: Jesus is the visible form of the invisible God, who resides bodily in Jesus as the soul does the body. The other manner in which Jesus is rejected originates from the Chalcedonian Creed, which divides Jesus into two natures, human and Divine, treating his human form as that of an ordinary man. For when Jesus rose from the dead in all his glory, and ascended into heaven, he had made the human form of his body Divine. Why otherwise would his body and blood be worshiped as such in the Eucharist or Communion? This is an essential doctrine of the New Church - a trinity of three persons is a falsehood. You have the hidden Divine itself, its manifestation in the Divine Human, from which proceeds the Holy Spirit, or the Divine proceeding. You have an emanation of the Divine into lower degrees of existence. Thus many Christians do not direct their prayers to Jesus, who is Jehovah Himself, or you have others who direct their prayers to Mary and the saints.

The explanation makes sense, and John himself may have revealed the secret in his own gospel in this passage which I mentioned earlier:

"Now My soul is troubled, and what shall I say? 'Father, save Me from this hour'? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name." Then a voice came from heaven, saying, "I have both glorified it and will glorify it again."Therefore the people who stood by and heard it said that it had thundered. Others said, "An angel has spoken to Him."Jesus answered and said, "This voice did not come because of Me, but for your sake. Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out. And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself." (John 12:27-32)

The "glorification" of Jesus occurred when he made his human Divine, by which Jehovah now has conjunction with the entire human race that had been cut off due to sin. So why were not the seven thunders written down? Because at the time the doctrine could not be received, or would have been rejected. What was revealed to the apostle John in symbolic vision in the seven thunders is spelled out in doctrinal form in the writings of Swedenborg concerning the Divine Human:

And when he cried, the seven thunders uttered their voices, signifies that the Lord will disclose through the universal heaven what is in the little book. This is signified because it follows that he wished to write what the seven thunders spake; but that it was said to him from heaven that he should seal up those things, and not write them: and afterwards, that he should eat up the little book; and that it would be sweet as honey in his mouth, but that his belly would be made bitter by it; by which is signified that such things were in it as could not yet be received. The reason may be seen in the following paragraph. But I will lay open what was in the little book. In the little book were the things which are contained in the Doctrine of the New Jerusalem concerning the Lord [found in Doctrines of the New Jerusalem - DW], from beginning to end, which are the following: — That the entire Sacred Scripture is concerning the Lord, and that the Lord is the Word (n. 1-7).The Lord's fulfilling all the things of the Law means that He fulfilled all the things of the Word (n. 8-11).That the Lord came into the world, that He might subjugate the hells, and glorify His Human; and that the passion of the cross was the last combat, by which He fully overcame the hells, and fully glorified His Human (n. 12-14).That the Lord by the passion of the cross did not take away sins, but that He bore them (n. 15-17).That the imputation of the Lord's merit is nothing else but the remission of sins after repentance (n. 18).That the Lord as to His Divine Human is called the Son of God, and the Son of Man as to the Word (n. 10-28).That the Lord made His Human Divine from the Divine in Himself, and that He thus became one with the Father (n. 29-36).That the Lord is God Himself from whom and concerning whom is the Word (n. 37-44).That God is one, and that the Lord is that God (n. 45).That the Holy Spirit is the Divine proceeding from the Lord, and that it is the Lord Himself (n. 46-54).That the Doctrine of the Athanasian Creed agrees with the truth, provided that by the Trinity of Persons is understood a Trinity of Person, which is in the Lord (n. 55-61).It is said that the seven thunders uttered their voices, because the speech of the Lord passing down through the heavens into the lower parts is heard as thunder; and because He speaks at the same time through the whole heaven, and thus fully, they are called the seven thunders: for by seven are signified all things and the whole (n. 10, 391). (Apocalypse Revealed, n. 472)

No secret here, it is actually in plain sight - that Jesus is Divine, and made his human body Divine, has been arrived at those who have closely followed scripture - the "little open book". This truth will be rejected by many in the former churches, which is described by the killing of the two witnesses in Revelation 11. Observe the hostile rejection or ignorance of these doctrines revealed to Swedenborg in the Christian church itself. Think about it: what is the meaning of the transfiguration of Jesus on the mount (Matt. 17)? Jesus overcame to the point where he transformed his human form into the very Divine.

UPDATE: SOME OTHER NUMERIC SYMBOLISM

For the curious, within the book of Revelation outside of Revelation chapter 10 which speaks of the seven thunders, the word "thunder" is mentioned seven times: Rev. 4:5, 6:1, 8:5, 11:19, 14:2, 16:18, 19:6. Note that the thunders of Rev. 11:19 is related to the revelation of the seven thunders, as well as the final instance of Rev. 19:6 where it states that the one Lord God omnipotent reigns.

In the book of Exodus, the word "thunder" is again mentioned seven times. Ex. 9:23, 9:28, 9:29, 9:33, 9:34, 19:16, 20:18. I thought this was more significant, because between the 6th and 7th instance of the word thunder the 10 commandments were given, where the central revelation is that one God in one Person should be worshiped. The seven thunders in Revelation takes place between the sounding of the 6th and 7th trumpets, which also herald plagues similar to those of the Exodus. As with the gospel of John (John 12:27-32), this again confirms that the interpretation that the seven thunders is related to the revelation that God should be worshiped as one person, in Jesus Christ.

Finally in the book of Job, in reference to God's voice the word thunder happens to be mentioned seven times: Job 26:14, 36:29, 36:33, 37:2, 37:4, 37:5, 40:9. However this is not as significant as the numeric symbolism found in Exodus.

Returning back to Rev. 11:15-19, and 19:6, where they both state that now the Lord God reigns: this refers to the point in time where people realize the fact that Jesus Christ is NOT a second person of a trinity. He comes to reign when people realize Jesus is the visible image of the invisible God, and thus his very human is Divine.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

In what may be one of the strangest UFO sightings ever, on October 25, 2012 the Mexican media company Televisa captured a huge cigar shaped UFO enter the volcano Popocatepetl. And this is an active volcano - on the very same day the volcano produced numerous explosions and ash clouds. I just found this too hard to ignore, especially since there may be a relationship between this and the movie Star Trek Into Darkness. Here is the actual clip of the news broadcast:

And, as is typical with the western media, UFO sightings will either be (a) ignored, or (b) discounted. First, lets take a look at the report of the Huffington post at UFO Appears To Fall Into Mexico Volcano. The newspaper had some various experts chime in, stating the following:

1. The video itself may be illegitimate as the original source is unknown. But this is not true: it originated from the volcano camera of Televisa, a major media company in Mexico. According to wikipedia: "Grupo Televisa, S.A.B. is a Mexican multimedia mass media company, after Organizações Globo is the largest in Latin America and the first of Spanish-speaking world."
2. The video is faked since the rumbling noise of the volcano is obviously dubbed in. According to an expert's "gut instinct" the object was superimposed on the video.
3. A more reliable video analysis expert says the artifact is valid, but then comes up with the explanation that it was probably a meteor that fell behind the volcano. A meteor that's slow moving, and produces a cylinder shape? Has anyone every seen a meteor do that?
4. Another explanation is that it is fake because the timing is suspicious: it comes right after the sighting of the Kentucky UFO which was also one of a large, bright cylinder.

As for the Kentucky UFO, it was reported by several witnesses on October 16, 2012, and caught on video by an amateur astronomer Allen Epling. He has received pictures from other witnesses, and said it just remained motionless in the same spot for about 2 hours. From those sightings, the cylinder shaped object seems to have flown in a straight line from Alabama to New York over a period of 4 days. I had previously talked about these cylindrical UFOs which are not only huge, but have seen as far out as the planet Saturn (see The Cylindrical UFOs of Saturn, and Emanuel Swedenborg). Here is a video he uploaded of it, with some nice music:

Here is a still picture of the actual object:

So, we have a multiple sightings of a huge UFO that flies over the United States just days before a similar cylindrical UFO seems to fly into the volcano Popocatepetl. From Mexican TV shows mysterious object free-falling into volcano's crater, International Astronomical Union member Margarita Rosado says its not a UFO but the video was tampered with, as there is no explosion or eruption when the object "crashed" into the caldera of the volcano. The British Unidentified Flying Object Research Association (BUFORA) has another explanation: the cylinder shape is a shard or ash streak that appeared close to the camera lens.

So, we covered the explanations of the skeptics. Perhaps tampered video? Perhaps a meteor falling behind the volcano? An object close to the lens of the camera? As it turns out, a few months later on Feb. 21, 2013 ANOTHER cigar shaped UFO was caught flying by the volcano Popocatepetl. Here is the video:

And a few days before that, one or more smaller UFOs were caught in the vicinity of volcano Popocatepetl on Feb. 7:

And in May of 2013, another small UFO not only flies by the volcano but enters into it. Remember, this is an active volcano, and it is a no fly zone. Although one video expert thought the above sighting was possibly an aircraft shown behind the volcano, closer video analysis shows the smoke and fumes are disturbed by the object entering the caldera of the volcano. This was recorded by 2 cameras, one of them again from Televisa. Here is another from June of 2013:

And if that were not enough, a SECOND cigar shaped UFO entered the volcano in December of 2013:

Its in Spanish only - it would seem that the Mexican media is less censored than American media when it comes to UFOs. Here is a more detailed analysis of the UFOs of the volcano Popocatepetl in an interview with Jamie Maussan by Open Minds TV, which took place before the December 2013 sighting:

I post this interview because Jaime Maussan states in the above interview that the UFO entering the volcano on October 25, 2013 was recorded by TWO DIFFERENT CAMERAS, one by Televisa. So much for the so-called experts who declared the video was fraudulent. Following the May 30 entry of the UFO, the activity of the volcano went down, so one theory is that the UFOs may be trying to control the volcanic activity which is so close to Mexico. And this has happened before: there was ANOTHER sighting of a UFO that entered the volcano on Feb. 14, 2001, after which the activity subsided, for which there are only pictures, not video. It was in the year 2001 that the glacier of the volcano Popocatepeti became extinct. His other explanation is that there is an underground base in the volcano - but here Jaime says no matter what you say on this phenomenon, it is just crazy. The crater is blocked, there is no known physical entry into the volcano. You know what this reminds me of? See the video in the blog post UFO Secret: The Friendship Case, Voltaire, and Germain. In that claimed extraterrestrial contact, the human extraterrestrials explained how they could temporarily open up holes or portals through solid matter. What seems like unbelievable magic now, will probably be a matter of common technology hundreds of years from now.

Warning: Spoiler Alert for Star Trek Into Darkness

NEW LIGHT ON STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS

Now, just when you think it can't get weirder, of course, things get weirder. The interviewer Alejandro Rojas noted that some have noted a parallel between these sightings and the opening scene of Star Trek Into Darkness. And what is the opening scene? It begins with an active volcano on the planet "Nibiru":

The volcano is abou to erupt, threatening to wipe out the species that exist on the planet "Nibiru." Nibiru, for those of you not in the know, is a theoretical 12th planet of our solar system that Zecharia Sitchen proposed that existed after studying (and distorting) ancient Sumerian myths. The crew of the enterprise, observing the planet, decide to intervene to stop the eruption and send Spock into the Volcano.

Of course things go wrong in a very bad way, and Spock gets stuck in the volcano and prepares for his death as a device will go off rendering the volcano inert:

And in order to rescue Spock, they can't send in a small shuttle, but the entire mohership - the U.S.S Enterprise, must fly over the volcano to transport him out. This of course, is seen by the inhabitants:

Is this art imitating life, or life imitating art??? Well I decided to check to see when the script of the movie of Star Trek Into Darkness was written. I pulled this from wikipedia:

In January 2011, Abrams said he had not decided whether or not he would direct, since he had not yet seen a script. ...In February, Orci tweeted that he (with Lindelof and Kurtzman) planned to deliver the script in March 2011. ...By April, Orci said at WonderCon that the script's first draft had been completed. ...Although a script was completed, uncertainty regarding the extent of Abrams' involvement led to the film's being pushed back six months from its scheduled June 2012 release.

So, the script was completed long before the UFOs appeared around the volcano in 2012-13. There was one entry into the volcano in 2001 caught on photographs, perhaps one of the script writers drew upon that? Unlikely. Spock is a Vulcan, and the Roman god Vulcan was a god of volcanos. However, I would really like to know from the script writers if they received any "suggestion" from a hidden source (ahem, a three letter agency) to put in the script a reference to a volcano. Or is this yet another case of coincidental precognition in an effort of creativity?

`This is Zo. We can hear you no matter what meter band you send on. We have heard all the messages you have sent to us by radio transmitter, and more. We have impressed you from time to time, and will continue to do so. Now what I am about to tell you will seem foolish. It is the way we do things at times. This is so it will all appear in a most conventional manner. You were impressed to go and see a certain motion picture. You did not know that the cartoon was Bugs Bunny in The Hasty Hare. We mentioned Bugs Bunny to you several times before, but you thought it was foolish and did not enter it into your records. We had our reasons. This cartoon was about a flying saucer and its coming to Earth. You saw the letter held in the hand of the saucer pilot and you noticed that its date was 9-27. This date is important in 1952. You will see!'

As it would turn out, yes a UFO did make an appearance on September 27, 1952. And if one sees that particular episode of Bugs Bunny, its about a Martian disk that visits the telescope at Palomar Gardens. This was the exact same area that UFO contactee George Adamski later made some documented sightings of UFOs. Don't ask me why, it is strange, but perhaps they see this as a way of making themselves known without causing panic to the public.

This case of the UFOs entering the volcano Popocatepetl in 2012-13, which was foreseen in the movie Star Trek Into Darkness, brings up another point. For Star Trek Into Darkness seems to have foreseen another event that took place in 2013. Here is what I wrote in United States arming Al Qaeda to overthrow Syria back in September of 2013, before I knew about the UFO sightings around the volcano Popocatepetl:

"The latest installment of the Star Trek film franchise is an interesting one. I just watched it and was surprised by some of the information contained within this movie. Like the movie The Matrix, I do not consider it to be a coincidence. The movie was released in April of 2013. The general theme of the movie is how a military organization - in this case Star Fleet - starts to lose its ethical and moral bearings by bending and breaking the rules in order to accomplish its military goals. Who is good, and who is evil? That is not exactly clear any more. In many ways this movie is describing U.S. foreign and military policy to instigate wars. The big surprise? It describes a false flag operation - a surgical miliary strike - that is arranged by Star Fleet in order to start a war with the Klingon Empire. The movie presents in a symbolic manner exactly what just happened in the last two months in Syria, where certain parties tried to use a chemical attack in Syria in order to have the U.S. launch a military strike in Syria."

So not only did Star Trek Into Darkness somewhat foresee the false flag operation of the chemical attack in Syria (probably initiated by the intelligence agency of Saudi Arabia), but also UFOs seen around the volcano Popocatepetl.

My preference is to see the ring and the struggle in Mount Doom as our own struggle with evil, with the love of self that we all have to let go. But the fact that the ring is a great weapon of power does not exactly fit with that metaphor, so perhaps it represents something else on another more literal level. So the two movies with the scene of the volcano brings us to some interesting, highly speculative, reasons as to why an extraterrestrial UFO would want to enter a volcano:

1. Go visit an underground base, intelligently placed under a known volcano. No, scratch that.2. Commit suicide, destroying any trace of any powerful weapon should it be found by humans. Then again, you can just drive the thing right into the sun, that should be sufficient (and easier).3. Be helpful to humanity, and stop a volcano from destroying a large population center.4. Learn how to cause a natural disaster, such as a volcanic explosion, should earth humans be stupid again and create another one of their wars for profit. A volcanic eruption is better than a nuclear war.

As for why extraterrestrial UFOs would show so much interest in a volcano, for me it is a toss up between #3 or #4. And that may be true between the extraterrestrials themselves, represented by the conflict between Frodo and Gollum in Mount Doom. And what of that Gollum creature of Lord of the Rings? Sort of reminds me of a bug-eyed gray. Oh wait, Gollum is bug-eyed AND gray:

What is that ring, a weapon of untold power, which Sauron constantly seeks? As Gandalf once said: Keep it secret, keep it safe.

What better way to bring in a new age for the end of Mayan calendar cycle in 2012? The presence of extraterrestrials, revealing themselves by flying into a Mayan volcano.

UPDATE (4/26/15): UFO SPOTTED NEXT TO CALBUCO VOLCANO IN CHILE

It would seem these UFOs have an interest in erupting volcanos, for another one appeared in the vicinity of the Calbuco volcano in Chile, which erupted just a few days ago on April 22. Rather than create another blog post I updated this one as a footnote. Here is one video of it:

Here is another video, putting together 5 videos of the UFO from different witnesses:

Although unidentified, if its an extraterrestrial UFO then we can surmise their motive: to protect earth in the case of a nuclear or natural disaster. Can they foresee the future, where there is a concern over a massive volcano exploding that would cause us harm across the globe? Is this is any way related to a premonition that Tolkien had in his story Lord of the Rings? Tolkien possessed a copy of the book An Experiment of Time by J. W. Dunn, in which he discussed evidence for precognition of future events in dreams. One of them was a precognitive dream of an exploding volcano.

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

In The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings I discussed some of the symbolism of Lord of the Rings, which contains within it evidence of precognition of future events. There are in fact other cases where fictional novels turned out to contain quite a bit of foresight and precognition - some going beyond the realm of coincidence. For example, the fictional story entitled Futility predicted the disastrous sinking of the Titanic years in advance:

Was the author aware? Probably not. Philip K. Dick, the author of numerous novels that have been made into movies (e.g., Blade Runner, Total Recall, A Scanner Darkly, Minority Report, Paycheck, Next, Screamers, The Adjustment Bureau and Impostor) reported that this would constantly happen to him - he would put in odd details in his novel, and then months later, he would encounter real life situations where he saw what he just put down in his novel being played out in real life. He was completely surprised by this. Some authors, seeking inspiration, perhaps go more deeply into their creative side, and open up their mind to suggestions from the spiritual world from where they derive their inspiration, on a subconscious level.

For J.R.R. Tolkien, it was probably similar. He had a recurring dream of being drowned by a tidal wave on a sinking island, and would always wake up from the dream gasping for air. He took this dream, and put it in the story of the book entitled the Silmarillon. As it turns out, Tolkien was highly interested in precognitive dreams and time travel. He possessed a copy of the book An Experiment of Time by J.W. Dunne which discussed precognitive dreams, published in 1927. It was highly influential for him, and he often spoke of entering the "realm of the Faerie" where time does not exist, where things are shown that are true (for a deeper discussion of this, see the book A Question of Time by Tolkien scholar Verlynn Flieger). He told C.S. Lewis that myths are lies that speak the truth. And here we have this epic modern myth, Lord of the Rings. So is this epic just a great story, or is there also a hidden story behind its symbolism?

So, as discussed in The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings, does the Lord of the Rings contain a hidden reference to the attack of 9/11 or is that just a clever number game? Once one understands some of the symbolism, a lot of things in the story start to fall in place. For example, the battle against Sauron in the opening scene of the movie Fellowship of the Ring, which at first just looks like a hack and slash battle:

You have here a battle, elves and men on one side, orcs on the other. In Notes On Fairy-Stories I mentioned this quote by Tolkien on elves:

"…if elves are true, and really exist independently of our tales about them, then this also is certainly true: elves are not primarily concerned with us, nor we with them. Our fates are sundered, and our paths seldom meet. Even upon the borders of Faerie we encounter them only at some chance crossing of the ways. [Footnote: This is true also, even if they are only creations of Man's mind, "true" only as reflecting in a particular way one of Man's visions of Truth.]"

What truth is Tolkien talking about? Constantly he is talking about how the story he wrote is a portrayal of the truth. From a symbolic perspective, we can surmise that elves represent angelic beings or spirits from the realm of Faerie, and orcs represent evil spirits or demons. That this is so, is shown in the entymology of the name "orc" originating from Latin Orcus, deity of the underworld, thus synonymous with our word "ogre" and an Old Norse word meaning "hell devil." Thus orcs can only thrive in the darkness, darkness a symbol of falsity. So in the above video, we have a great spiritual battle between angelic beings and demons. What spiritual battle is Tolkien speaking about? At one key moment, the dialogue says the following:

It was in this moment, when all hope had faded, that Isildur, son of the king, took up his father's sword...

So, who is Isildur? He was part of a long line of Kings, from whom Aragorn had descended. Before the battle at Mount Doom Isildur had discovered that Sauron planned on cutting down Nimloth, the White Tree of the Undying Lands. Disguising himself he managed to take away the fruit of the Nimloth, but without first getting badly injured from those who guarded it. He replanted the tree, but by the time of the story of the Lord of the Rings we find the White Tree at Minas Tirith, just about dead, where everyone was waiting for it to rebloom:

A group of men decided not to join Isildur in the fight against Sauron, so he cursed them until they should fulfill their oath. These are the ghosts who haunt the paths of the dead:

After defeating Sauron and recovering the one ring, he has a chance to destroy it once and for all in the molten lava of Mount Doom:

But, driven by power, he decides to keep the ring. This leads to his ultimate death - ambushed by orcs, the ring slips away from his finger as he tries to swim away from them, and is struck by arrows:

So, what is that White Tree of Gondor? Perhaps the tree of life of the Garden of Eden? And here is what Jesus said in the book of Revelation:

To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God. (Rev. 2:7)

And what of the sword of Elendil which becomes broken at the battle with Sauron? We have this:

Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. (Matt. 10:34)For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword (Heb. 4:12)

A sword represents truth, for one fights by truth. For it to become broken means some truth destroyed - which began to happen early on with the Christian Church, after Jesus was crucified. And what of the men cursed by Isildur, who become ghosts to haunt the paths of the dead? After the crucifixion, Jesus made a descent into hell and released some spirits caught between heaven and hell:

[Jesus] went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient (1 Pet. 3:19-20)

And why does Isildur die in a river? We have this:

He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. (John 7:38)But one of the soldiers pierced His side with a spear, and immediately blood and water came out (John 19:34)

Isildur is thus a symbolic representation of Jesus, just as King David of the Old Testament is a symbolic representation of Jesus, which happens to be well known with those who study Biblical prophecy. Tolkien himself said that Lord of the Rings was primarily a Catholic work. It is thus highly ironic that certain Christians call Lord of the Rings a work of the devil. You have that on one side, and on the other a ton of Lord of the Rings fans who don't want anyone messing around with a great epic story. The story is in fact a modern myth - and a myth is a lie that tells the truth. But what of Isildur's battle with Sauron at the foot of Mount Doom? This is a symbolic portrayal of the battle Jesus took on against all of Hell during his life, which is in fact how he saved humanity. But the mystery here is why does Tolkien not have Isildur destroy the ring, but instead keeps it? Within the Catholic Church, one of their greatest visionaries was a nun known as Catherine Anne Emmerich. Her visions were recorded, and she happened to give a detailed account of Jesus' descent into hell following the crucifixion. I had discussed this earlier in Jesus the Shaman - Descent into the Underworld, but here is a portion of her account:

"And thus I saw the Redeemer passing rapidly through these numerous abodes and freeing the souls therein confined. He did a great many other things, but in my present miserable state I am unable to relate them."At last I saw Him, His countenance grave and severe, approaching the center of the abyss, namely, Hell itself. In shape it looked to me like an immeasurably vast, frightful, black stone building that shone with a metallic luster. Its entrance was guarded by immense, awful-looking doors, black like the rest of the building, and furnished with bolts and locks that inspired feelings of terror. Roaring and yelling most horrible could plainly be heard, and when the doors were pushed open, a frightful gloomy world was disclosed to view..."

Does this remind anyone of the black gates of Mordor?

In addition to that, pay attention to what Emmerich then says later:

"When the gates were swung open by the angels, one beheld before him a struggling, blaspheming, mocking, howling, and lamenting throng. I saw that Jesus spoke some words to the soul of Judas. Some of the angels forced that multitude of evil spirits to prostrate before Jesus, for all had to acknowledge and adore Him. This was for them the most terrible torment. A great number were chained in a circle around others who were in turn bound down by them. In the center was an abyss of darkness. Lucifer was cast into it, chained, and thick black vapor mounted up around him. This took place by the Divine Decree. I heard that Lucifer (if I do not mistake) will be freed again for awhile fifty or sixty years before the year 2000 A.D. I have forgotten many other dates that were told me. Some other demons are to be freed before Lucifer, in order to chastise and tempt mankind. I think that some are let loose now in our own day, and others will be freed shortly after our time."

And here you have a prophecy of the outbreak of World War II decades in advance. J.R.R. Tolkien was a devout Catholic, highly interested in prophecy, and I would be surprised if he was not aware of he visions of Catherine Anne Emmerich. This passage explains why he has Isildur not destroy the ring once and for all in Mount Doom, but to be dealt with at a later date - the date of the events of Lord of the Rings of course. And here is the clincher - Isildur's battle with Sauron takes place at the beginning of the Third Age, in the same way our Gregorian calendar begins counting years from the time of Jesus. Tolkien, to keep the meaning of his myth hidden (or implicit), adds a thousand years to the chronology. So when Bilbo's birthday party is dated to September 22, 3001 of the Third Age, this would correspond with the date of September 11, 2001 - after which war after war begins against the Middle East (see The Hidden Prophecy of the Lord of the Rings). When one understands the symbolism, one can see how Lord of the Rings is primarily a Catholic work, containing prophetic events probably influenced from some of Tolkien's own dreams. What better way to portray the truth of what Jesus did between the time of the crucifixion and the time of his resurrection? In the visions of Emanuel Swedenborg, he was shown at the time of Jesus' coming there was a threat that all of humanity would be lost due to the growing power of hell, and without his coming, all would be lost. Did Tolkien not only have dreams of the future, but that of the past as well?